Egypt Page 1 of 25 Egypt Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2006 Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor March 6, 2007 The Arab Republic of Egypt, with a population of approximately 79 million, has been governed by the National Democratic Party (NDP) since the party's establishment in 1978. The NDP, which continued to dominate national politics by maintaining an overriding majority in the popularly elected People's Assembly and the partially elected Shura (Consultative) Council, derives its governing authority from the 1971 constitution and subsequent amendments. Executive authority resides with the president of the republic and the cabinet. In September 2005, President Hosni Mubarak won a fifth 6-year term, with 88 percent of the vote, in the country's first multi-candidate presidential election, a landmark event that was otherwise marred by low voter turnout and charges of fraud. The civilian authorities generally maintained effective control of the security forces, which committed numerous, serious abuses of human rights. The government's respect for human rights remained poor, and serious abuses continued in many areas. These included limitations on the right of citizens to change their government; a state of emergency, in place almost continuously since 1967; torture and abuse of prisoners and detainees; poor conditions in prisons and detention centers; impunity; arbitrary arrest and detention, including prolonged pretrial detention; executive branch limits on an independent judiciary; denial of fair public trial and lack of due process; political prisoners and detainees; restrictions on civil liberties--freedoms of speech and press, including internet freedom; assembly and association; some restrictions on religious freedom; corruption and lack of transparency; some restrictions on NGOs; and discrimination and violence against women, including female genital mutilation. RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS Section 1 Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom From: a. Arbitrary and Unlawful Deprivation of Life There were no reports of targeted political killings nor were there any confirmed reports of deaths in custody in police stations or prisons during the year. On January 23, the independent newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm reported that 19 Islamist prisoners had died in captivity of unspecified causes during the preceding six months. By year's end, there had not been any public governmental or NGO investigation of this story. On March 25, a plainclothes Alexandria police officer from the Montazah station allegedly shot and killed 19 year-old Youssef Khamis Ibrahim after Youssef refused to allow the officer to search him. A police spokesman later said Youssef was suspected of being a drug dealer, charges his family denied. Immediately following Youssef's funeral on March 25, a number of mourners attacked the Montazah police station; eight rioters were arrested. Two Members of Parliament from Alexandria submitted requests to the minister of interior and the Parliament to conduct official inquiries, but by year's end there had been no additional developments. On September 7, the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR) reported that 81 detainees were tortured to death inside police stations between 2000 and 2004 and that 21 detainees were reportedly tortured to death in police stations between April 2004 and July 2005. EOHR further reported that detainees were kicked, burned with cigarettes, shackled, forcibly stripped, beaten with water hoses, and dragged on the floor. There were no reports of death by torture during the year. During the year, there were killings by terrorist groups. On April 24, three suicide bombers attacked the Red Sea resort of Dahab, killing at least 20 persons and injuring more than 100 others. On April 26, suicide bombers separately attacked a Multinational Force and Observers (MFO) vehicle in the northern Sinai (near Al-Gorah) and an Egyptian security vehicle (near Al-Arish). There were no casualties other than the bombers. According to police sources, the attackers were members of Al-Tawhid wa Al-Jihad (Monotheism and Holy War), a Sinai-based extremist group. By mid-May, in response to the Dahab and Gorah attacks, the police announced they had detained at least 30 suspects, while at least 9 other suspects had been killed during exchanges of gunfire with the authorities. On May 9, according to media reports, security forces killed an alleged operational planner of the Dahab attacks, as well as previous Sinai terror attacks (in October 2004 in Taba and July 2005 in Sharm el-Sheikh), Nasser Khamis al-Mallahi, near al-'Arish in the northern Sinai. On December 3, police in the northern city of Damietta shot and killed three fishermen, and injured 30 others, after the fishermen resisted police efforts to remove their fish traps from the Nile. The police were attempting to implement a new government policy to reduce water pollution; the fishermen were protesting the forcible removal of their traps. By year's end there had been no public investigation into the Egypt Page 2 of 25 Damietta deaths. Several reported cases from 2005 of killings by security forces remained unresolved. On March 27, the UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions reported that the government denied that security forces were responsible for the death of 34- year old detainee Nefissa Zakariyya Al-Marakby in March 2003. The Special Rapporteur said the government had failed to substantiate this denial and noted that the autopsy results provided by the government were "consistent with sexual mistreatment." The Special Rapporteur also said that "it was especially troubling that the interviews were not conducted with the other detainees and members of the security forces who were potential witnesses." The UN Special Rapporteur also regretted that the government "failed to cooperate with the mandate...given by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights" regarding allegations that an unnamed Egyptian police officer from the Atlas (Cairo) police station, in October 2005, had shot a bus driver, Alaa Mahmoud Abdel Lateef, and his friend Mohamed Adly. The UN report further stated that although Egyptian authorities had detained and investigated the police officer for four days, the government had not replied to the Special Rapporteur's request that the government take "all necessary measures" to ensure the accountability of the guilty party. Regarding the government's response to allegations of excessive use of force by security forces in the deaths of 27 Sudanese migrants in December 2005, the Special Rapporteur noted that the government had rejected the allegations "without adequate substantiation." The Special Rapporteur regretted "that the government's response consists of conclusory denials that lack factual substantiation that would be provided by investigations and medical examinations." The government replied that "the loss of life resulted from the chaos and the stampede invoked by the extremist leaders of those demonstrators and not by...use of excessive force or firearms on the part of the police." During the year, the government did not conduct any public investigation or disciplinary proceedings in the cases of the killings of 11 citizens by security forces during the parliamentary elections of November and December 2005. Most of these deaths had occurred after security forces closed hundreds of polling stations to opposition voters. b. Disappearance There were no reports of politically motivated cases of disappearance. Human rights monitors continued to call attention to unresolved disappearances, including the 2003 disappearance of Egyptian journalist Reda Hilal. c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment Article 42 of the constitution prohibits the infliction of "physical or moral harm" upon persons who have been arrested or detained. Article 126 of the Penal Code penalizes acts of civil servants or public employees who commit or order acts of torture. However, torture and abuse of prisoners and detainees by police, security personnel, and prison guards remained common and persistent. Torture and authorizing torture are felonies punishable by 3 to 10 years' imprisonment. For deaths resulting from torture, the crime is considered intentional murder punishable by a life sentence. Arrest without due cause, threatening death, or using physical torture are punishable by imprisonment. Abuse of power to inflict cruelty against persons is punishable by imprisonment and fines. Victims may also bring a criminal or civil action for compensation against the responsible government agency. There is no statute of limitations in such cases. Amnesty International (AI), Human Rights Watch (HRW), and other human rights organizations have observed that the Penal Code fails to account for mental or psychological abuse; abuse against persons who have not been formally accused; or abuse occurring for reasons other than securing a confession. According to HRW in a December 23 statement, "Torture is pervasive in Egyptian detention centers." There were numerous, credible reports that security forces tortured and mistreated prisoners and detainees. Domestic and international human rights groups reported that the State Security Investigations Service (SSIS), police, and other government entities continued to employ torture to extract information or force confessions. In prominent cases, defendants alleged that police tortured them during questioning